AS anxiety over the alleged ceding of
oil wells continues to mount, the Rivers State Government on Wednesday accused
the Federal Government of paying the sum of N17bn belonging to Rivers to
Bayelsa State.
The money, according to sources, was
expected to remain in a special account until the land/oil well dispute between
Rivers and Bayelsa states was resolved.
Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi,
who addressed over 35 monarchs and indigenes of Kalabari Kingdom at the
Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, also accused Federal Government
agencies, including the National Boundary Commission, of trying to pervert
justice in the boundary dispute.
Amaechi, represented by the Deputy
Chief Tele Ikuru called on the National Assembly to come to the aide of the
state.
The governor maintained that Soku
belonged to Kalabari Kingdom.
He said, “The issue of Soku has been
very disturbing to the Rivers State Government. We woke up one day to hear that
some oil wells in Soku have been ceded to Bayelsa State.
“We all decided that if we have
dispute over the territory, put the money accruing from there into an escrow
account. We woke up one day again and the whole money in the escrow account has
been given to one party – Bayelsa State.
“As a matter of fact, as I speak to
you now, N17bn rightfully accruing to Rivers State has been paid to Bayelsa
State.
“Other federal agencies are not
helping matters at all. From all indications, all federal agencies we have
approached over this issue have all kept deaf ears. The whole world knows that
Soku has been part of Rivers State from time immemorial.”
However, the Governor of Bayelsa
State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, faulted the claims of Amaechi, saying Rivers
position was not supported by law.
Dickson said it was unfortunate that
Rivers State was dissipating its energy arguing on a matter that had been
resolved in favour of Bayelsa State by the Supreme Court.
Dickson, in a statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the “facts on the matter speak
for themselves”.
He said, “The government of Bayelsa
State has sufficiently made its stand known on the matter. And our stand is
duly backed up by law. The law, as we know it, deals with facts and concrete
evidence.
“On the issue of ownership and the
claim by the Rivers State Government to Sokou Oil wells, I believe it is no
longer news that Rivers State Government took Bayelsa State Government to the
Federal High Court on this same issue and lost.
“Instead of appealing the matter in
the Appeal Court, the Rivers State Government invoked the constitutional
provision and filed a suit in the Supreme Court in 2011 and this year, the
Supreme Court upheld Bayelsa State position.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the
South-South Governors Forum, Senator Liyel Imoke, kept mute over the oil wells
dispute between Rivers and Bayelsa states.
A text message sent to the governor’s
phone at about 5pm, seeking to find out if he (Imoke) would intervene in the
matter was not responded to.
When contacted, the Chief Press
Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Christian Ita, said Cross River State had no
comment on the issue.
Our correspondent gathered from a
government source that the state was not interested in the matter because when
Cross River State had an issue with Akwa Ibom over the disputed 76 oil wells
that were later conceded, following the Supreme Court ruling, no other state
from the South-South region intervened.
Also, the Ijaw Legacy Group, based in
the United Kingdom, has condemned the protest by chiefs and elders of Kalabari
clan over an alleged plot by Bayelsa State Government to annex part of Rivers
State.
The group in a statement by its
President, Columbus Peterside, said the action of the elders was aimed at
destabilising peace in the region.
He said, “We wish to strongly condemn
the recent street protest in Abuja by some chiefs and elders of Kalabari clan
led by Chief Graham Douglas. The situation, if unchecked, does portend
far-reaching implications, especially in undermining the fragile peace
currently prevailing in the Niger Delta today.”